Suddenly
by xeloquent
Summary: Amelia Shepherd is still recovering from the death of her brother with the help of everyone at GSMH. But what happens when a familiar face shows up, and suddenly everything changes? Mature themes.
1. Baby Blues

The hospital was eerily quiet, although, that was normal at this time of night, especially on the PEDS floor. All of the louder, younger children were asleep already, and the older ones were quietly on their phones, or asleep as well.

Amelia Shepherd had just finished checking on a few of her patients who had brain surgery, and had been transferred from the PICU to the pediatric floor. She was exhausted; her day had consisted of three tumor resections, and a craniotomy. She was praying that she could finally go home and see Owen. He had left the hospital hours ago.

It was now July. Two months had passed since their wedding, the day that had started out terribly, with her running away from the church, into the pouring rain with Maggie and Meredith, but ended with her marrying the man she loves.

Amelia flinched slightly as a hand reached out to grab her arm. She turned her head quickly, ready to fight back. Ever since the incident that had occurred in her visit to LA two weeks ago, Amelia had been more careful than ever.

"Jesus, April! You scared me," the neurosurgeon shouted at April Kepner, who was clad with her two-month old daughter, Grace, in her arms. Grace was half asleep, and dressed in a lavender colored nighttime onesie.

"I'm sorry!" April quickly apologized. "Are you busy right now?"

Amelia raised an eyebrow. "No, I was just about to go home, why?"

The redhead sighed, obviously sorry for what she was about to ask. "I hate to ask you this, but could you please watch Grace? I just got paged to the ER, and Jackson's currently in a surgery."

"What about the daycare?"

"There's a sickness going around, and I don't want Grace exposed to that. Please Amelia? I wouldn't ask if it weren't important," April's voice pleaded.

Amelia nodded her head, and took the infant from April's arms. "Thank you so much!" the trauma surgeon exclaimed, red hair flying as she quickly dashed off to the ER.

"Looks like it's just you and me, kid."

She made her way to the nursery, and sat down in the rocking chair, gently rocking the little girl back and forth. Her big, green eyes were starting to close, obviously becoming a prisoner to the ravages of sleep. Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly, before her movement stopped. She was now snoring lightly, in an adorable way. The same way that April did, actually.

Amelia stroked Grace's cheek gently, as her thoughts started to drift. She and Owen had been talking about kids ever since their wedding. They both agreed that they wanted them, and at some point they were going to happen. But, Amelia was scared.

The last time she'd had a child, he had died 43 minutes after he was born. Daniel Ryan Shepherd, her perfect little prince. To outsiders, he just looked like a lost cause. But to Amelia, he was the most beautiful child she had ever seen. His little button nose, his perfectly carved lips. He was the most beautiful child she'd ever seen, and if she had another baby, she would no longer be able to say that. Then, the guilt would slowly, but surely seep in.

The small brunette blinked a few times, and lifted from her daze. She looked up at the clock on the wall, and gasped slightly when she realized it was now 11:18 PM. She had been sitting there for half an hour, but it had felt as though no time passed at all. Amelia looked to the doorway, to see a PEDS nurse, dressed in pink scrubs, coming in to check on the infants. She didn't want to just pass Grace off to the woman, but she knew this nurse. Her name was Sasha; she was in her mid-twenties, with a smile always present on her face, and some sort of elaborate braid in her hair.

"Sasha?" She spoke gently, so she wouldn't wake Grace and all of the other tightly wrapped bundles in the room.

The young blonde woman turned around, that perky smile still on her face. "Yes Dr. Shepherd?" Her voice oozed with joy.

It was nice to see some happiness in this place every once and awhile, but sometimes Sasha overdid it.

"Could you take little Grace here? My shift just ended, and I would really like to be able to go home and see my husband sometime soon. Dr. Kepner and Dr. Avery are both in surgery right now, but one of them will probably be down here the minute they get out," Without even waiting for an answer, Amelia transferred the infant from her arms to Sasha's. She kissed her on the top of the forehead, and walked out of the room, eager to finally change out of her scrubs.

Owen and Amelia were named Grace Scarlett Kepner Avery's godparents after much consideration and debate between April and Jackson. Amelia loved that little girl so much, that it hurt to just walk away. But, she also loved her husband.

The attending's locker-room was empty, not at all surprising Amelia. She peeled off her scrubs and shoved them in her bag, also stopping to hang her lab-coat up. She stood there exposed, in only a plain bra and underwear pair. For a minute she debated; to shower or not to shower? Eventually it was concluded that she would just shower at home. Maybe Owen would join her. A grey t-shirt made its way over her head, and dark leggings found a home fitting snugly against her hips. After she looked presentable enough to leave, she exited the lounge, and pressed the down button by the elevator. An ebullient _ding_ sounded after a few moments, and the doors flew open.

The hospital lobby was the only part of the complex that stayed alive (minus the ER) at this time of night. It was bustling with people, most of whom were pacing, probably anticipating bad news, or sitting in the stiff waiting room chairs, biting their fingernails down to stubs. A few fellow doctors, along with some nurses said goodbye, and she replied to all of them with a smile and a 'you too.' It wasn't until Maggie Pierce almost ran her down in the parking lot, that she realized she was dazing off again while walking.

From inside the car, Amelia could see a wide eyed Maggie mouthing "I'm so sorry!", and a stern faced Meredith turned towards her saying, "I'm never letting you drive my car again."

Amelia herself was spooked by the incident, so she went to the passenger's side of the vehicle, while Meredith rolled down her window.

"Ferris Bueller over here got a little too carried away with the gas pedal-"

"Amelia, I am so sorry. You're tiny, I didn't see you," Maggie quickly stuttered, trying to make the situation better than it was.

A chuckle escaped Amelia's throat, as she waved it off. "Hey, it's not like it's the first time it's happened," she thought back to the time she had been clipped by a minivan when she was addicted to running, after she had gotten out of rehab for the first time.

The three made small talk for a few more minutes, inconveniently blocking everyone else in the parking lot that wanted to leave. But, they didn't care. They were just enjoying one another's company. Ever since Amelia had moved in with Owen, and the whole incident with Meredith, Maggie and Riggs had occurred, there was obviously a change in their relationship. It seemed as though they were no longer the Sister Lady Chiefs.

"Alright, well we should probably go, Arizona is stuck at home watching all of the kids. You and Owen should come over for dinner sometime this week!" Maggie exclaimed. It was a sentence that would be way too full of happiness to come out of Meredith's mouth.

Amelia nodded, and agreed that it was a good idea. She would check with Owen, but chances were that he would probably say yes.

"Oh, and don't forget about tomorrow."

Amelia raised an eyebrow. "Tomorrow?" She hadn't remembered making any plans with anyone tomorrow, but maybe she had and she had just accidentally forgotten.

"New interns." Meredith smiled, and rolled up her window, as Maggie started to drive out of the lot. It appeared that Meredith had already forgotten her vow to never let her sister drive her car again.

Ten minutes later, Amelia was pulling into the driveway of her home, not far from the hospital. Owen had bought a nice little blue house, with a white picket fence and a big backyard. It was, coincidentally, also in the best school district in Seattle.

She parked the car, and stepped out of it, being greeted only by the streetlights. There were no lights on in the house, so she figured Owen must already have been asleep. Amelia put the keys into the lock, and opened the door. She was instantly greeted by their dog, Lulu, who showed her affection for her female owner by jumping on her legs, causing light brown hair to become embedded in the fabric of her pants.

"Hey Lu!" Amelia half whispered, in case Owen really was asleep like she thought. He was a heavy sleeper, but she still didn't want to risk waking him up. They couldn't even eat lunch together that day, because the ER was so busy that the redhead didn't have a second to spare. He deserved some rest.

Once the dog's water bowl was filled, Amelia headed upstairs to get ready for bed. Slowly, her feet hit the floor, as she tried to keep the floorboards from creaking. It was a success, and after about thirty seconds of acting out a scene from Tom and Jerry, she made it to her and Owen's bedroom. The door was half open, so she made sure to shut it once she was in the room. There were no lights on, but she could see the faint outline of her husband lying on the bed, fast asleep. His hand was resting by his face, and he smiled slightly while he slept, which Amelia found to be adorable.

She kept walking through the dark room, and eventually made her way to the bathroom that connected to her and Owen's bedroom. Once her clothes were carelessly thrown on the ground, she climbed into the scalding hot shower. First Amelia washed her hair, before lathering her body with some sort of vanilla scented soap. It was the smell that she was known for. Once again her emotions were cleansed from her pores, all the unshed tears being washed down the drain.

 _Her baby._

Not Daniel, but a baby she'd had before him. A perfectly healthy little girl, who had brown hair, and the widest blue eyes.

* * *

 _The coffee shop had a distinct smell. It smelt like cinnamon, and all the parts of Spring that were still left. Her eyes burned into the glaring screen in front of her, hungry for answers. It was only about 6 AM in Los Angeles, and Amelia had bolted out the door this morning before anyone had time to question her. It had been a week and a half since the death of her son. She had decided to take a month off of work, which everyone assumed was for grieving the death of her child, which it was. But, it was also going to be used for her to try and find her daughter._

 _After Daniel's death, all she felt was guilt. Guilt that she couldn't protect him from the bad things in the world like life threatening conditions, or dead parents. Guilt that her baby had died, and there was nothing she could have done to save him. Guilt because eighteen years ago, she had given her first baby up._

 _Amelia remembered the morning that her daughter finally decided to grace the world with her presence. It was a cool, Autumn day in New York. Her mother had taken her to the hospital, once her water had broken, and then she had her, and handed her off to a lovely blonde couple. The adoption was closed, and for good reason. Amelia knew that if she knew her daughter's name, or where she lived, she would go looking. And she was definitely not fit to be a parent at sixteen, combined with being newly sober._

 _But then, her fingers were flying across the keyboard, and she was typing in the name of the woman that had adopted her daughter._

 _"Rachel Young."_

 _There were a lot more Rachel Young's in the world then one might have thought. She spent a good twenty minutes looking through Facebook pages for a picture of the woman, and she was about to give up when she finally found her. Her page said that she was a lawyer, and had attended Harvard. That was good. At least her daughter wasn't living in a box on the street._

 _Her best bet for finding anything out about her daughter, would be to find her Facebook page, if she had one. Amelia started to go through Rachel's photos, and everything seemed normal. There was a picture of her holding a small blonde boy, captioned with "Happy Birthday to my little rugrat!" It was a faded picture, so it must have been some sort of ode to his childhood. There was a picture of herself and her husband at a candlelit dinner, in some sort of fancy restaurant. Neither of the adults were focused on the camera; they were laughing at something that had just been said, and were obviously enjoying themselves. Finally, after scrolling and scrolling, she came to a picture that she knew was her. In the photo, was a brunette teenage girl kneeling on the grass. She had shorts and a tank top on, and a bandana tied in her hair. She was holding dirt covered hands up at the camera, while smiling widely. The caption was, "My little garden helper :)". There was a tag on the picture, so Amelia clicked on it, and was led to a new page._

 _It was titled "Harper Young," and said that she went to Lincoln High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Amelia smiled. The girl looked so much like herself. They both had dark brown hair, blue eyes, and dimples. Harper was small, and had a smile that looked as though it could stop wars. There were lots of pictures on her page. Pictures of family vacations, birthdays. Pictures of her with her friends, and one of her at prom in a beautiful, red gown, being held, bridal style, in the arms of a boy who looked dashingly handsome in his black and white suit._

 _Then, Amelia did something incredibly stupid and impulsive._

 _She bought a plane ticket for the next flight out to Pittsburgh._

 _When she got back to the beach house to pack her suitcase, nobody was there luckily. Everyone was already at the practice by this time. It was now seven o'clock, the time that the practice's doors opened. The only person that would ever dare be late was Amelia, and she currently had time off, so that wasn't a problem._

 _Only the necessities were thrown into the black bag; toothbrush, a few changes of clothes, a hairbrush. Amelia didn't exactly know what she was going to do once she got there, but she knew she was going to see her daughter._

 _Seven hours later, she was standing in the middle of the Pittsburgh International Airport, wheeling her suitcase behind her. Then she was in the backseat of a taxi, and then a crappy hotel room. She didn't sleep well that night; she had gotten phone calls from Addison, Sheldon, and Charlotte, all asking where she was. Amelia had simply told them that she was out East, and she needed to disappear for a while, but that she would be back, and she was fine. The lie had easily rolled off her tongue, and when all of the doctor's finally hung up, that was when she cried herself to sleep._

 _The next morning was warm and bright. Amelia had showered, and walked to a little café close to her hotel for breakfast._

 _She rented a car, and drove around for a while, almost completely emptying out the gas tank. When the brunette finally glanced at the car's digital clock, it showed that it was noon. Lunchtime. That would be the best time to go to the high school; Harper would have free time, so maybe she could pull her away from her friends for a few minutes so they could talk._

 _Her GPS directed her towards a large brick building. The car was parked, and she was walking on the pavement in front of the school, her heeled boots clacking with every step. She was confused as to why she could hear voices; until she turned her attention to the courtyard in the back._

 _Kids littered the vast, grassy space, some eating, some talking to their friends, and some doing a combination of both._

 _Amelia's blue eyes lingered over all the students, searching for the familiar girl she had seen in the photos online. They eventually landed on one student in particular._

 _She was standing with a group of four other people. A tall blonde haired girl, a girl with fiery orange hair, a short boy with kind eyes, and a very muscular brunette boy, who currently had his arm around her shoulders. The muscular one was the same boy from the prom photo, Amelia could recognize him very easily. Then, there was her daughter._

 _She was wearing cuffed jeans and a maroon t-shirt. Her hair was in a simple side braid, and her head was thrown back in laughter at something that had just been said._

 _Suddenly, it was as if everything was in slow motion. Harper's laughter, the teenagers chasing each other around like five-year old's, the muscular boy kissing the top of Harper's forehead. A smile was brought to Amelia's face, one that rarely came out anymore, and she knew. She knew that this was not her place. She didn't want to mess up that beaming girl's happiness, she knew that now. She had seen her, and maybe that was enough. Maybe it had to be._

 _So Amelia turned around, got in the car, and drove back to the hotel so she could gather her things, and go home._

* * *

 **A/N: yay! Chapter one is finally up! I definitely went through the ringer writing this one. I originally had it fully written and saved, but when I went to go open the document up again, it hadn't saved. So basically I had to rewrite the whole chapter. I could remember most of what I said, but I couldn't remember the exact wording of things, so it might seem a little off. I know i said that the chapters would be a lot longer, and that was the original plan. But, I realized that I won't have time to write 8,000 word chapters once school starts. I'm really going to try and focus on my grades this year. Anyways... hope you guys enjoyed! Please FOLLOW, FAVORITE, AND REVIEW!**


	2. Interns

"It's so much better than I imagined."

Harper Young rolled her eyes at her in awe best friend, Camille Scott.

"Cam, you've been to a hospital before. Trust me, I know, from the many, many times I've held your hand while you vomited on some ER nurse because you were so intoxicated."

Camille rolled her eyes, and stuck her tongue out at her brunette best friend.

"I don't understand why you're so surprised that this hospital is any bigger or better than normal. Didn't you look at the pictures online?"

Camille turned to her friend, eyes wide with fear. "Oh no, were we supposed to?"

The two had just finished medical school, and today was their first day as surgical interns. Harper was prepared; she had read all about the hospital, its surgical program, and the doctors that worked there. Camille on the other hand, was about as irresponsible and unprepared as you could get. That was how it had always been with their friendship though. The two were total opposites, and not just personality wise. Harper was short, brunette, and all-around small, while Camille was tall, blonde, and curvy. Harper had a head full of crazy curls, while Cam's hair stuck down like a pin. They balanced each other out, though. It worked.

"Are you two going to go inside, or what?" A man's voice came from behind them. He was short and stocky, had brown hair and eyes, and could be no older than twenty-five. His voice was sarcastic, and slightly rude, much like Camille's tended to be at times.

"Depends. Are you going to be there?" Camille winked at the boy, did a hair flip, and sashayed into the building. The boy just rolled his eyes, and started to walk inside the hospital too.

"Hey! Wait up!"

He paused slightly, but only slightly, as if he were simply acknowledging that Harper existed.

She ran up to him, until she was standing right by his side. She thought about grabbing his arm, maybe doing something to get him to stop walking, but he seemed like the type of person that would claw her eyes out if she even looked at him wrong. So, she could walk and talk.

"I want to apologize for Cami. She's a little, um, confident?" It hadn't meant to be a question, but judging by the way Harper said it, she was sure that that was what it had been.

"I'm Harper by the way," She held out her hand, and surprisingly, he shook it.

"Aiden. Aiden Parker." He gave her a slight smile, and raised an eyebrow. "I didn't just roll my eyes at a girl who has a dying dad or something, right?"

Harper laughed lightly. So, this boy did have a soul after all.

"No. We're surgical interns, and today is our first day."

"Really? Me too." Aiden said.

 _'Thank the lord'_ Harper thought. She hadn't even gotten her scrubs on yet, and she had already made a friend.

The two kept chatting as they made their way into the elevator, and up to the surgical wing, where a mass of people were waiting by the front desk.

 _Interns._

Richard Webber was standing at the head of the group, looking at all of them with a pleasant smile on his face. Most of the people there were talking to one another quietly, mingling and trying to make friends rather than enemies. You did not want to be enemies with another surgical intern. They would find some way to guarantee that you wouldn't get to scrub in on any surgeries. They were vicious.

"Alright, everyone, quiet please." The crowd instantly fell silent, and all turned their attention to the man in front of them.

"A month ago you were in med school being taught by doctors. Today, you are the doctors."

Harper heard a squeal coming from her left, so she turned that way, only to find Camille with a huge smile on her face. What a surprise.

The large group of about 30 people continued on through the hospital, down hallways and in ORs. They even stopped by in an OR gallery while Meredith Grey was performing an appendectomy.

"That down there, is Doctor Grey, our Head of General Surgery. Can anyone tell me what surgery she's performing?"

Most of the people in the group shrugged and shook their heads, but there were a select few that raised their hands. Harper, a very tiny Hispanic girl, and a boy with acne and glasses who looked like he was forever frozen at age seventeen.

Richard pointed to the Hispanic girl, who smiled over eagerly, but managed to say "An appendectomy sir," with a clear voice.

"Very good. What's your name?" He asked, obviously impressed.

She cleared her throat. "Ruby. Ruby Thompson."

Richard nodded approvingly at this, and turned back to the group. "I hope you all try to be as straightforward as Miss Thompson, here."

Ruby smiled widely, and started to get blushed cheeks. Harper could hear Camille groan at this.

"Oh boy. Looks like you're not the only goody-two shoes, Harper."

She ignored her friend's snotty remark, and continued on with the tour. About twenty minutes later, they were in the locker room changing into light blue scrubs. Harper was admiring the lab coat she had been given mere minutes ago.

"It's beautiful. Truly beautiful."

"You're a very strange girl," Aiden said in reaction to her surprise. He took his shirt off, revealing a very well-toned midsection.

"Hot damn," Camille said as she eyed him up and down. Aiden pretended that he thought she was disgusting, but really he was hiding a smirk.

"Hey Cam, who'd you get assigned to?" Harper was hoping that they had gotten the same resident. Camille was like her safety blanket, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to let go just yet.

The blonde girl checked the yellow post it note she had been given. "Uh, Edwards. You?"

Harper blew air out of her mouth, while tying the strings on her pants.

"I got Wilson."

"I got Wilson too." Aiden smiled down at Harper. He was on the shorter side for a guy, probably only about 5'7 or 5'8, but he was still taller than her.

"You have fun with the Neuro nerd while Aiden and I are getting to do it all. I hear Edwards is basically married to Neuro, so that's probably all you'll be doing."

Harper was expecting her to roll her eyes, or at least groan like she usually did, but instead, she smiled. "That's okay. I like brains. Brains are cool."

"Uh, Young, Parker, Lloyd and Thompson." A bored looking man in navy blue scrubs stood in the doorway of the locker room, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Looks like that's me. I'll see you at lunch?"

Camille nodded, but grabbed Harper's shoulder as she started to leave.

"Just try to contain yourself from pouncing on that hot piece of ass over there," She nodded her head towards Aiden.

Camille was truly the queen of inappropriate comments.

"I'll do my best." The two exchanged an arm bump, and Harper sauntered off to the doorway to meet the attending.

The other three people whose names were called quickly showed up as well. Of course there was Aiden, the Hispanic girl from earlier named Ruby, and a dirty blonde haired, blue eyed boy with a slight goatee.

"Took you all long enough," The attending, identified as 'Alex Karev; Pediatric Surgeon' on his lab coat, spoke to them in a dull, annoyed voice.

"Okay, this is how it's going to go," He talked while walking quickly out the door, and towards the reception desk where a young woman was standing. "Dr. Wilson is my wife. So, if I hear that any of you mess this up for her, or make her look like an idiot, you'll have to talk to me. Understand?"

They all nodded, except for the blonde haired boy, who stood there with a smirk on his face. Alex noticed this, and clenched his fist to keep himself from attacking the young man right then and there. He had a real problem with people who hurt, or might possibly hurt Jo, physically or otherwise.

"I said, do you understand me?" He and the boy, Lloyd, locked eyes.

"Yes sir," The words were dripping with sarcasm, and Alex obviously wanted to punch his lights out, but they had already been standing there for too long, and he couldn't just punch somebody in the middle of a hospital because he didn't like his attitude. He had learned by now how to store some of that anger away.

Jo Wilson looked up from the chart that she was eyeing, and quickly put a smile on her face. Alex left the four interns and Jo alone, but not before giving her an encouraging thumbs up. These were her first ever interns.

"Raise your hand when I say your name, so I know who is who." Jo's smile stayed present on her face, but her voice was still commanding. She didn't to be completely rude and make them hate her, but she still wanted them to know that she was the one with the authority, and not them.

"Aiden Parker." Aiden raised his hand, and Jo handed him a black pager.

"Ruby Thompson." Another hand was raised, another pager was handed out.

"Zachary Lloyd." The arrogant blonde boy raised his hand, and when Jo handed him the pager, he winked at her, to which she responded by rolling her eyes.

"Flattery will get you nowhere with me, nor will it get you anywhere with the other doctors in this hospital." Harper stifled a laugh. She liked Dr. Wilson already.

Once Harper received her pager, Jo started to walk down the hallway, and the interns eagerly trailed behind her.

"I'm going to tell you five rules. Try to memorize them so I don't have to repeat myself. Rule number one: don't try to suck up. You're the interns, I'm the resident, and that's not going to change just because you bring me coffee and a bagel," Jo turned her attention towards Zach, who simply shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, on to rule number two: you see those pagers I just handed all of you? If yours goes off, you better be up and running, no matter what you're doing. Whatever the page is for, it's obviously an emergency and can't wait," She opened the door to an on-call room, and moved out of the way so the interns could look inside. "This is an on-call room. Your first shift lasts for 48 hours, so if by some miracle, you get a chance to sleep, use it. But if I happen to be sleeping in one of these, you better not wake me up unless your patient is dying. And if you wake me up and your patient is already dead? You woke me for no reason, and you killed a person. Those are rules three and four." She shut the on-call room door, and continued walking down the hospital hallway. "Rule number five is very simple: when I move, you move. _You_ don't have a critical patient; _we_ have a critical patient. Your wins are _my_ wins, and your losses are _my_ losses. Don't disappoint me."

Just then, Owen Hunt went running by, but before he could fully run past the group, he turned back, directing his attention at Jo. "Big trauma, Wilson, it's all hands on deck!"

She nodded, and started running in the direction of the ER.

 _God, she hoped her interns were following behind her._

Once she got there, she was immediately greeted by Alex, who handed her a trauma gown, and helped her tie the back of it. In turn, she handed each of her intern's gowns as well. They reluctantly tied each other's, after many exchanged glances. They didn't know one another at all, but they would have to get used to each other eventually.

Footsteps hit the ground in unison as they all ran back to the ambulance bay. There was a mass group of doctors, all wearing the same yellow gowns. Nobody was really talking; they were all just waiting for the ambulances to arrive. The sound of sirens was faint, but growing louder by the second. They would probably get here any minute, and then it would all be chaos.

"Hey!" Amelia yelled towards Jo, who was standing next to her. She looked past the resident, to her interns.

"Interns?" Jo nodded, and Amelia smiled, but her smile faded once her eyes landed on the intern standing next to Jo.

It was a girl with dark brown hair that was wrestled back into a ponytail. She stood patiently next to the other doctors, while nervously cracking her knuckles.

It looked like..

"Harper?"

 _Dammit Amelia!_

Harper turned her attention to Dr. Shepherd, and smiled. "That's me. You're Dr. Shepherd, right? Chief of Neuro?"

"Mm," Amelia nodded. Normally she would've said something like "Shouldn't you know that already?" to an intern, but this wasn't just any intern. This was the girl that she'd seen four years ago. The girl that she almost met, but didn't have the heart to.

Amelia's eyes were stuck on Harper, but the young girl had already turned her focus back to watching for the ambulance, so she didn't notice the doctor's fixed gaze on her. However, Owen did notice.

"Amelia?" He grabbed her shoulders, and turned her small frame towards him. His eyes were narrowed, and his eyebrow was raised. "Are you okay?"

Again, she numbly nodded. What was she supposed to say?

"Sorry sweetie, I'm just distracted by my twenty-two-year-old daughter who I gave up for adoption, who happens to now be an intern at the hospital we both work at. I guess I forgot to mention her."

Owen definitely wasn't satisfied with that nod, but the poking and prodding would have to wait until later.

The first two ambulances had arrived, the first one immediately being scooped up by Bailey, Owen, and a few eager residents. Amelia took the next one, along with Jo, and of course her interns. They had to stay with their resident until instructed otherwise.

"What do we got?" Amelia asked the paramedic as they unloaded the gurney from the ambulance. She really wanted to talk to her daughter, but that would have to wait until later. Right now they had a patient that needed their help.

"Skylar Hamilton, 26. GSW to the abdomen. BP is 120/80."

The girl's eyes nervously darted around, looking at all of the doctors surrounding her.

"What happened? Where am I?"

Jo wasn't sure what the backstory was, or why she had been shot, but she was planning on saying something short and sweet, before Amelia stepped up.

"Skylar, you were shot by a man robbing a bank. But, we're going to do everything we can for you, okay? Just try to stay calm, and breathe," They continued wheeling her into the hospital, until she was transferred onto a trauma room table.

"My baby. Is my baby okay?"

Amelia and Jo exchanged a glance. "How many weeks are you, Skylar?"

"Uh," The young woman's eyes were still darting around. "I'm 19 weeks."

"Okay, let's get an ultrasound, and page Robbins, stat!"

The nurse standing nearby nodded, as she went to get the ultrasound machine.

"Skylar, I'm just going to turn you on your side to see if the bullet went all the way through, alright?"

The blonde nodded, and Jo turned to her interns. "I need two of you to help me get her on her side."

The interns were eager to do anything, even if it was just moving a person slightly. Ruby and Harper raised their hands faster than either Zach or Aiden, so Jo pointed to them, and motioned for them to come closer.

Ruby took the side with Jo, while Harper stood next to Amelia. Amelia could practically feel the electricity buzzing through the air. Her daughter was standing right next to her. How had she even gotten here? She lived in Pittsburgh last time she checked, so how did she find her way to Seattle?

"On my count. One, two, three," The four doctors lifted their patient up gently, and turned her on her side.

"Clean entry and exit wound," Harper stated.

Just then, Arizona came bounding into the room, the ultrasound machine quickly following behind her.

"What do we got?" The blonde asked, trading places with Ruby so she could make her way to the patient.

"Skylar Hamilton, 26. GSW to the abdomen, clean entry and exit wound. Oh, and she's 19 weeks pregnant."

Arizona sighed, but put on the best fake smile that she could. She was really hoping that the bullet had missed the baby. She would know in about a minute, after she did the ultrasound.

Gel was squeezed out of the bottle, and onto Skylar's stomach, and Arizona smiled widely once she had located the baby.

"Your baby seems to have no damage. The bullet missed them completely." Skylar reached up for Arizona's hand, which startled her slightly.

"Thank you."

Once again, that bright smile rose to Arizona's face, causing her dimples to pop out. "Hey, you're the one doing all the hard work. While I have the machine out, do you want to know the baby's sex?"

"My boyfriend wanted to wait until the baby was born, but I can't. I have to know."

The fetal surgeon nodded. "I completely understand." For the second time, the monitor was placed on Skylar's stomach, as she waited patiently to hear all about her baby.

"It looks like you're having a.. little boy!"

Skylar nodded in approval, before she started to nod off. Then, the monitors were beeping rapidly, and the doctors were springing into action.

"She's lost too much blood. We need to get her to an OR, now." Amelia firmly instructed.

Without even thinking, Harper reached out and placed her fingertips on the side of Skylar's neck. "I can barely feel a pulse, I don't think we have time to get her to an OR."

* * *

"I'm exhausted," Harper announced as she set her tray full of food down, next to Camille.

"From what, your big trauma adventure?" Camille glared at her obviously tired friend. "See, while you guys were actually doing exciting things, I was stuck running labs, and watching Dr. Avery suck fat out of a butt."

Aiden laughed, and took a bite out of his sandwich. "Sounds fun. But it was weird. This one doctor wouldn't stop staring at Harper, and she kept smiling whenever she would talk, even though our patient and her baby ended up dying, she was still smiling. I think you have a stalker."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Well, whatever," Harper rolled her eyes. "At least my stalker is a brilliant surgeon who is going to teach me how to clip aneurysms and stop bleeds, while you're sucking butt fat with Camille."

"Haha, very funny."

Camille took a bite from her apple, and looked to Aiden. "So, what's your story?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Why is that any of your business?"

"Aiden, don't be a douche, it was just a question."

If those words had come out of anyone else's mouth, Aiden probably would have come up with a snarky retort, but he had clearly taken a liking to Harper.

"I was raised by two dads, but they split when I was seven. I have one older sister. She works here, actually. She's a pediatrician."

Both of the girls nodded their approval, and went back to eating. Harper was caught off guard when the same question was directed at her.

"What about you? What's your story?"

"Two parents, Rachel and Isaac. Lawyers. I have an older brother and an older sister, and they're both in law school. I'm kind of the outcast, I went for being a doctor instead of some snooty prick with a briefcase."

Aiden snorted, and smiled at her. Finally, his brown eyes met with Camille's hazel ones. "And you?"

She just smiled softly, and looked at the ground. "That's a long story, too long to tell when we only have a few precious minutes to eat."

Just then, Ruby Thompson walked into the cafeteria, looking confused about where to sit.

"Aww look, goody-two shoes is all alone," Camille's voice spoke sarcastically.

"Cam, you don't have to be so mean all of the time. Hey, Ruby!" Harper called the girl over. Her eyes widened, and a smile lit up her face once she heard her name. "Come sit with us!"

Camille groaned, and instantly started pouting like a child. The act didn't stop once Ruby was at the table and seated in between Harper and Aiden, so the brunette girl kicked her friend in the leg as if telling her to cut it out.

From a table nearby, Amelia watched the scene in front of her unfold. Harper's laughter with her friends, defending Amelia's "stalkerish tendencies," and the kind gesture of inviting that intern to sit with her. Her heart swelled with pride. Even though she didn't raise her, and hadn't done anything for the girl except give birth to her, Amelia still felt a maternal connection to her. She was still her daughter, even if she was the only one that knew it. That girl was good; she was kind, beautiful, and funny too. Harper had a sense of humor. It was probably twisted like Amelia's.

"Richard, do you see that girl over there? The laughing, brunette intern?" Amelia turned her attention towards the older man sitting across from her. Owen, once again, was too busy to eat lunch with his wife, so she was sitting with Richard. He was the least nosey doctor, and she had to tell somebody her secret. If Amelia didn't she would probably explode.

Richard nodded, and took a bite of his salad.

Amelia smiled pleasantly. "That girl is my daughter."

* * *

 **A/N: I'll be busy during the school year. along with classes, I also have softball practice, piano lessons, band practice, confirmation, and more, BUT I will still try to upload new chapters at least once a week. Some weeks, I might upload more than one chapter, and others I might not upload any, nothing is set in stone. The first few chapters are pretty light, but the drama is coming, just wait! I added Bailey's rules in there for a little bit of oomph. I feel like those rules are the sort of thing that would be passed down to all of the new interns. They're kind of a staple, ya know? oh, and for those of you who are new to the story; i understand that there is already a harper is grey's anatomy (harper avery), but i can't imagine her being named anything else. Hope you enjoyed, and like always, FOLLOW, FAVORITE, AND REVIEW!**


	3. Nearly Positive

"Aiden, what is on that disgusting looking sandwich?"

"Uh, peanut butter, salami, and bananas. Want a bite?" Aiden spoke in between mouthfuls, holding out his sandwich to Camille.

The blonde stuck a finger down her throat, initiating a fake gag. "I would rather eat whatever Ruby's devouring over there then even get near whatever that thing is."

The dark haired girl looked up from her container full of food, and towards Camille. "It's _carne adovada_. Just because it's not your typical white girl Chipotle, doesn't mean that it isn't good." She took another bite of her food while Camille surprisingly smiled.

"And here I was thinking that you had no bite. I like it."

Harper sat forward, and rushed to flash a fake smile. "Okay! New subject." Clearly she didn't want her friend pissing people off already. She had a tendency to do that. "Have you guys thought about specialties yet?"

Aiden was the first to answer. "I'm thinking Dermatology." He got up and threw his crusts away, leaving the three women to exchange glances. When he got back, Harper was the one who finally broke the awkwardness. "You're kidding, right?"

He smiled, pleased with himself. "Of course I'm kidding. Derm is _way_ too sunshine and rainbows for me. But Trauma seems cool. There's always something for you to do."

"I like Ortho. I guess pushing my brother out of a tree inspired me."

"Wait, you did what?"

"I pushed my little brother out of a tree when I was seven. He broke three ribs. Let's just say that you should never get in between a girl and her Barbie dolls." Ruby stated, leaning back in her chair, clearly happy with herself.

Camille was the only one impressed by this. Aiden and Harper were looking at the small woman in disgust and shock.

"Wow. Badass. I like it."

The moment of bliss between Camille and Ruby was interrupted by Alex Karev standing at the head of the table. The interns quickly quieted themselves, and put on straight faces.

"So, your first patient died, but apparently there was nothing more you could have done. Good job, idiots."

Camille and Harper exchanged a look. Apparently, this was Alex Karev's nice side.

"You probably know that the attendings were watching you closely all day, so we could pick an intern to scrub in on the first surgery. Congrats, blondie."

Alex tapped Camille's shoulder, and walked away, causing her to spit her water back into the plastic bottle she was drinking from.

"Did he just say me?"

Harper patted Camille's back to keep her from choking, while a smile lit up her face. "Yes C, he said you. Congrats!"

Harper didn't even feel the least bit jealous, but not the same could be said for Ruby and Aiden. But, if they had known Camille's backstory, they probably would have been more accepting of her getting to do the first surgery.

She knew that this was a big thing for Cam. As a child, she had always been looked down upon by the kids that were bigger than her, or had more money than her. Camille grew up with two older sisters, and a twin sister. Her mother was a single parent, as her dad had passed away when she was three. Her mother was working three jobs to support them, as well as her older sisters getting jobs the second they entered into high school. So, she had never really gotten to show her worth, because people never gave her the chance. This was her chance to prove everyone wrong. She wasn't just some dumb blonde.

"I guess sucking out some old woman's butt fat paid off." Camille stated, still in shock.

Richard dropped his fork, and widened his eyes slightly at what Amelia had just told him. "What?"

Amelia just then realized what a bomb she had dropped on the unsuspecting man, so she quickly apologized. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to just blurt that out." She looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"Twenty two years ago, I had a baby. I gave her up for adoption, and only my close family members knew. It wasn't that I couldn't take care of her. I knew that my sisters, Derek, Addie and my mother would have gone all out and helped me in every way possible. In all honesty, I gave her up because I didn't want to take care of her. I didn't want to give up my teenage years. I didn't want to risk my sobriety. It was a good decision with selfish reasoning, and it has haunted me everyday since."

Amelia finally looked up, expecting Richard to freak out or scold her or something. Instead, he gave her a smile.

"Everyone is a little selfish sometimes. She seems like she turned out okay, considering she's an intern at one of the best hospitals in the country. You're sure that it's her?"

"Mhm," Amelia nodded. "This is going to sound crazy, but after I lost my son, I looked up her adoptive parents, found out where they lived, and hopped on a plane. I drove to her high school, I saw her outside, but she seemed so happy, that I couldn't go through with talking to her. I didn't want to mess that up."

"Are you going to talk to her now?"

"I don't know." The brunette sighed. "Sorry I dropped all that on you. You're not my therapist, I still have to go see one of those." Amelia chuckled nervously. "I guess I told you because you're the most trustworthy person I know, besides my husband, and I obviously can't tell him."

"Owen doesn't know?" Richard frowned.

"No. I want to tell him, I do, I just don't know how."

The older doctor had just opened his mouth to respond when his pager went off. "I've got to go," he said, standing up quickly. "Get yourself to a meeting, and tell your husband. It'll make you feel better."

Richard threw away the remnants of his salad before darting off to the ER, leaving Amelia alone.

The four interns got up from their spot, and all went their separate ways, Harper going along with Camille. They had some down time, surprisingly, so they made their way to an on call room like they had been told to do. Harper climbed on the bottom bunk, while Camille darted for the top.

"So what do you think it's going to be like? Actually being in the OR next to some of the best surgeons in the country?" Harper asked, trying to keep Camille's hype up.

"Hopefully everything I think it's going to be. Hopefully I don't screw up." She cringed at the thought of the more experienced doctors yelling at her, telling her she shouldn't be a surgeon. Their strong voices echoed in her head.

"Hey, don't think like that," Harper kicked the top bunk to make sure she had her friend's full attention. "You are not going to mess up. You're going to walk into that OR like the kickass surgeon that you are, and you're going to save a life. Got it?"

In the darkness of the room, Camille smiled. "I'm glad you're my best friend, H."

"And I'm glad you're mine, C."

At some point after that, Harper was lulled into unconsciousness. She was finally up with a start after a nightmare woke her. She thought that was the end of those. It appeared that they had returned. She pulled her iPhone out from the pocket in her scrubs, and checked the time. It had been around noon when she and Camille had gone into the on call room, and it was now half past noon. Only half an hour of sleep. That was better than nothing she supposed.

Harper turned her attention to the top bunk once she was up and fairly alert. Her eyes widened when she noticed that her friend was nowhere to be found. Harper was always the first one up, so she assumed that Camille would still be peacefully sleeping. Maybe she had gotten a page?

"Have you seen Camille?" She asked Aiden who happened to be standing outside of the girls bathroom that was next to the on call rooms.

"She's in there with Ruby. I think she might have picked up some sort of bug." Aiden looked pretty concerned, which was a sharp contrast to his usually hardened features.

Harper spent no time pondering, and she burst into the bathroom to find all of the stalls empty, except for one. Camille was kneeling over the toilet, while Ruby stood behind her, holding her hair back. The black haired girl looked back at Harper who stood behind them, worried.

"I saw her run in here, so I followed her. Luckily she made it in time."

Camille hovered by the toilet for a few more seconds, before standing up shakily. Her skin was sickly pale, and she looked miserable.

"Cam, you look like hell."

The blonde forced a smile, and made her way to the sink. "Thank you captain obvious." She splashed some cold water on her face, and turned back to the two women who were prepared to catch her at any second. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a surgery to prepare for."

Ruby and Harper exchanged a glance before turning back to Camille. "You realize they're not going to let you scrub in, right? You could contaminate the patient." Ruby was sad, but also hopeful because maybe now that Camille was down, she could perform the surgery.

Camille sighed, and put her hands on her forehead. "Dammit. I have to go tell the attendings that I'm sick on my first day, don't I? Well, you guys are coming with me, I feel like I'm going to faint, and you happen to be good railings." Ruby and Harper went to their friend's side, each one taking an arm around their shoulder.

The trio made their way to the attendings lounge, assuming that most of them would still be there, as it was still their lunch hour. They were right. When they walked in, they found some of Seattle's finest. Meredith Grey, Alex Karev, Arizona Robbins, Miranda Bailey, and Amelia Shepherd all sat on the couches, chatting at one another, presumably about medicine, or who was sleeping with who. You never knew with these doctors.

Alex was the first to notice that interns were invading the attendings lounge, and he was very clearly not happy about it. "What are you guppies doing here?"

Camille looked like she was about to pass out, and her skin was even more pale than when they were in the bathroom. "I think I have a bug. I don't want to bring germs into the OR, so I'm sorry, but I don't think I can scrub in on the appy."

"Okay," Alex shrugged, and looked towards Harper. "You."

"What?" The young woman questioned, surprised that he was even talking to her.

"Oh don't play dumb. You're scrubbing in on the surgery, congrats. Now go get ready. It's in an hour."

She stood there speechless, unsure of how to react. Sure, she was excited, but this was supposed to be her best friend's surgery.

"It's okay, Harper. Be a kickass surgeon and go save a life, remember?" Camille offered a weak smile, and Harper returned it. She was glad that she had such an amazing person in her life.

Amelia watched from the corner, where she was sitting in the middle of a conversation between Meredith and Arizona about Ellis becoming potty trained. The joys of motherhood. She observed the girl's reaction, and realized that her daughter would be performing the surgery. Oh god. Harper had no idea that the surgery was designed so that she would fail. And then she would be all heartbroken and wallowy, and it would just make Amelia heartbroken and wallowy.

The three exited the room, and took Camille to the ER so she could get some fluids and just practice basic patient care. It seemed like that was all that she would be doing today.

Harper grabbed her scrub cap, the one that her mother had bought her as a sign of good luck, and tied it on her head. She then went to OR 4, and scrubbed in, making sure that every germ was off of her skin. Well, not every germ, but as far as she was concerned it was as good as. Then she walked into the OR. There were about 7 other people in there. The lead surgeons, scrub nurses, the anesthesiologist. The bright lights beat down on her. Breathe, step, breathe, step, that was all that she had to do. She hadn't felt this nervous in a long time. She hadn't felt this nervous since the night she took the pregnancy test.

She swallowed hard, and looked up to see that Meredith Grey was the lead surgeon, not surprising her. The woman was, after all, the head of the General Surgery department. Her ferry boat scrub cap caught Harper's attention. She recognized it. That was what her late husband, Derek Shepherd, had always worn. It was a nice ode to him that she still wore it.

"Alright everybody. It's a beautiful day to save lives, let's have some fun."

Let the surgery begin.

* * *

 _"Are you sure?" His green eyes bore into hers. He knew how much this moment meant to her._

 _Half of their clothing was already neglected on the hotel floor. She had a smile on her face, while he had a serious look. The making out had been great, but he decided to push pause for a second to ask if this was what she really wanted. He didn't want to force her into anything._

 _"I'm sure." Two hours later they were asleep, sweaty bodies entangled. Harper was the first to wake up, and when she did she found herself tracing over every inch of his skin. It wasn't even sexual, it was purely curiosity. It was quite a thing getting to explore someone else's body. Every freckle, every scar was now visible to her._

 _Dylan woke up a few minutes later, to see her smiling widely at him._

 _"No regrets?"_

 _"No regrets."_

 _She had been with Dylan for nearly a year, so it wasn't unreasonable that they had had sex. Actually, in Dylan's mind it was long overdue. But, he was a boy. He thought with his penis instead of his brain most of the time. For him it was just another crazy, fun memory. But for Harper? It was everything. He was her first. Oh god, she couldn't be pregnant after her first. She hadn't regretted it at the time, and even afterwards. Truth be told, she hadn't regretted it at all until she missed her period._

 _It started a few days late. She told herself it was nothing to worry about. Then, days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into a month. That was when she started to get scared._

 _She couldn't be pregnant._

 _College started in a month. She should have just waited a few more years, until she was married. She loved Dylan, she did, but was he really the man she was going to marry? If she was really pregnant, he would have to be. Harper knew that single or separated parents raised babies all the time. But she was not one of those people. If she had to raise a baby without someone else there all the time, she would probably break apart. Harper Young was not meant to have kids. She had convinced herself that she would be a terrible mother._

 _"Harper, are you in here?" Her twenty year old sister, Sabrina, knocked on the bathroom door. The blonde was back from college for the summer, which also meant that her impatience was back._

 _"Yeah, give me a few more minutes." The teenager's voice cracked, and she realized she had forgotten to lock the door. What an amatuer move. Sabrina entered the bathroom, and noticed that her little sister had been crying. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" She then noticed the stick sitting on the counter of the sink. It was flipped upside down, and she finally put two and two together._

 _"Oh no, Harper, you didn't." Then the dam broke. Harper collapsed in her sister's arms, and wailed. She was glad that her parents and brother were out. "I'm too scared to look at it." She hiccupped, and wiped a stray tear away from her eyelashes._

 _Sabrina wasn't used to seeing Harper so beat up like this. Usually, she was the strong one in the family. She had never been much of a crier, and was the guidepost when everything else was collapsing around her. She was the glue of the family, but right now, she was just a broken down teenage girl._

 _"Do you want me to look at it first?"_

 _Harper nodded slowly, but grabbed her sister's hand as it reached out for the test._

 _"Wait."_

 _Sabina did as she was asked, and withdrew her hand._

 _"What happens if it's positive? How am I going to tell mom and dad?"_

 _"We'll cross that bridge if we come to it. Okay?"_

 _"Okay." The brunette sucked in a breath as the stick was turned over, and her sister sighed._

 _"Is that a good sigh or a bad sigh?"_

 _Sabrina looked up at Harper, brown eyes colliding with blue. "You're not pregnant. The test is negative. You must've just missed a period, it's happened to me before."_

 _Harper was relieved. There were so many things that she would have had to do, had it been positive. She would've had to tell Dylan, her parents and brother, Camille. She would have had to postpone college, and figure out what the plan was. Adoption, abortion, keeping it? She would have had to do that, if she were pregnant. She, thankfully, was not._

 _"Oh thank god."_

 _"You know there was a girl in my dorm freshman year that got pregnant? Her boyfriend was so pissed at her that when she was sleeping, he came into our room at dyed her hair purple."_

 _"Brina!" Harper exclaimed. "That is so not helping!" But, it had sparked some curiosity in the teenager. "Wait, how did she not wake up?"_

 _It was as if nothing had changed between the two of them. It was as if Sabrina hadn't come super close to becoming an aunt, and Harper to becoming a mother._

* * *

 **A/N: (dt tess) Sorry it took so long to update! I've been super busy with school, and I can't stop thinking of more stories that I want to write. But I promise I will really really try to update more often then like one time every month and a half. I love reading your guys' reviews! Thank you for the continuing support on this story ! The next chapter is MY FAVORITE, and focuses A LOT on Amelia and Harper. You'll see what I mean once you read it :) I hope you enjoyed, and like always FOLLOW, FAVORITE, AND REVIEW ! ps- I actually know someone that eats what aiden does on his sandwich. yikes**


	4. What If?

_"Would you like to hold her?"_

 _It was a question that Amelia had positively had an answer to a few minutes ago, but now that her baby girl was right there, right in front of her, she wasn't so sure if that was the right decision. The newborn's wailing caused Amelia's heart to feel like it was being stuck by lots of little needles. She knew that nothing was wrong with her, she just was getting used to life outside the womb. But, Amelia wanted to protect her from everything. So, she found herself saying yes._

 _A few moments later, that child was in her arms, and her cries had quieted a little bit. Carolyn stood by Amelia's bedside, saying how she thought it wasn't a good idea that Amelia was holding her, but in that moment, everything and everyone else seemed to disappear as the baby opened her eyes for the first time, and looked directly at her mother._

 _She had big blue eyes, Amelia's blue eyes. Rationally, Amelia knew that most babies had blue eyes at birth, so there was a chance that they would change color, and wouldn't actually stay blue, but there was something different about her eyes. They were a shade of blue that she had never seen before in an infant. Babies born with blue eyes all relatively had the same rich, medium shade of blue in their irises; but her baby's eyes were very light blue. They were the exact color of Amelia's eyes._

 _"Mom, I want to keep her," The teenager turned to face her mother, her eyes full of pure hope and bliss._

 _Carolyn shook her head. "No, Amelia, you made a commitment to adoption. You can't take care of a baby by yourself."_

 _"She won't be by herself," Derek spoke as he walked into the delivery room, his beaming fiancé, Addison standing behind him. "She has us. Nancy probably won't be too much help and Lizzie is pretty busy with college, but I guarantee that Kate would be willing to help out too. I'm also hoping she'll have you, mom. Amelia, if this is what you want to do, we'll help. If you want to keep your daughter, we'll stand behind you."_

 _Amelia couldn't help it as a smile worked its way onto her face, reaching all the way up to her eyes. She knew that being a recovered addict, and a mom at sixteen would be hard, but she wanted to do it. She knew she could do it._

 _"Mom?"_

 _Mrs. Shepherd stood next to her youngest child, still looking at her disapprovingly. She sighed, and gently touched her granddaughter's head full of hair, feeling her brunette curls in between her fingers._

 _"Amelia, parenting is a full time job. You don't get to just throw in the towel when it gets hard."_

 _"I know mom. I'm committed to this. I'm committed to her," Her gaze shifted to the now sleeping baby that was peacefully lying in her arms. "I can do this, I know I can. Please?" Amelia had already been forced to grow up way too early, with the drug and alcohol addictions, pregnancy, and now having a baby. She was no longer a teenager, but an adult. However, this didn't stop her from using the best pouted lip face that she could._

 _The brunette woman sighed once again, and nodded. "Alright. But you have to be the one to tell that very hopeful couple that they're not adopting a baby today."_

 _Carolyn exited the room, and Derek and Addison followed behind her, figuring Amelia and the Youngs' would need some alone time._

 _"Hi Amelia!" Rachel exclaimed as she entered the room, her husband, Isaac standing behind her. Smiles were plastered on both of their faces, and Amelia felt incredibly terrible for what she was about to do._

 _"How are you feeling?" Isaac asked, trying to make Amelia feel as comfortable as possible. If she needed anything, like ice chips or even a hug, he would be the person to go to. After all, it was the least he could do for her. She was giving them a baby for Christ's sake!_

 _Rachel's eyes traveled down to the sleeping baby in Amelia's arms, as her heart fluttered. "Oh my gosh, she's beautiful. Can I hold her?"_

 _Amelia nodded, swallowing a sob that had formed a lump in her throat. To answer Isaac's question, she just gave him a slight smile as if to say "I'm doing fine." But Amelia wasn't doing fine. She was about to break these nice people's hearts._

 _"Hi baby," Rachel cooed down at little girl, who was now letting out a big yawn._

 _"R-Rachel.. Isaac.. I need.. I need to tell you something."_

 _It sounded like Amelia was choking on her words, and she probably was. In all honesty, she was doing everything she could to even keep from crying._

 _Rachel's eyes turned alert, and her instincts turned on. "What's wrong? Is something wrong with her?"_

 _"No, nothing is wrong with her. It's just that.." She didn't know how to spit out the words she was looking for. It didn't seem like Amelia would be able to finish her sentence, but Rachel caught on before she could even have a chance to try and explain._

 _"You're keeping her, aren't you?" The blonde woman's expression was now stone cold as she handed the baby back to Amelia. Not another word was spoken as she got up and left the room, her husband quickly following behind her._

 _Amelia felt terrible; but she had her baby girl. And to her, that was all that mattered._

 _It was now just Amelia and her mini me, all alone, although she knew her family probably wasn't more than a few rooms away._

 _"Hey kid," Amelia kissed the top of the newborn's forehead, and sighed happily. "I'm your mommy. I know that I've made some bad decisions in the past, but you were definitely not one of them. And I promise to be better now. I will be better for you. Because I love you babygirl, and promise to keep loving you until I die a very old woman."_

 _Of course, the baby was asleep again, and hadn't heard any of that, but Amelia's eyes welled up with tears anyways. She held them back._

 _"Oh! I just realized you don't have a name yet."_

 _Amelia scrunched her face up a little bit, trying to see every little detail of the baby's face. Finally, there was only one name that would fit her little angel._

 _"I think I'll call you Harper."_

* * *

 _It was Amelia's big day. She was finally out of high school; she was free. No more studying for stupid tests that didn't matter. No more missing out on her daughter's milestones because she was busy doing Calculus homework._

 _Well, she was free for about 3 months, until college started._

 _"Momma?" Harper pointed up at the big stage, where Amelia had just received her diploma, and was pumping her fists in the air._

 _"That's right babe, that's your momma." Addison Montgomery smiled at the toddler currently sitting on her lap. They were sitting in uncomfortable fold out chair in Amelia's very crowded high school gymnasium, so Addison didn't exactly want the sweaty critter that was Harper to sit on her lap. But, she couldn't say no to those wide eyes that had looked up at her, and the chubby little fists that tugged at her dress._

 _Plus, she wanted to see Nancy, Lizzie and Carolyn jealous._

 _Derek sat to Addison's left, and to her right was the rest of the Shepherd clan, minus Kathleen and her kids. They were currently on vacation in Florence, and hadn't been able to book a flight back in time. They did however, send their love._

 _Nancy's twin boys, Vincent and Grant were impatiently wiggling around in their seats, the only ones that weren't behaving. They were eight at the time, but Nancy still assured everyone that her children were perfectly well behaved, and had been since birth._

 _Once all of the diplomas were handed out, Amelia stood up once again, and walked over to the podium. Usually, the class valedictorian was the one to give the speech, but he had come down with a terrible case of the flu two days before graduation. When Amelia was asked to give the speech, she was dumbfounded as to why they would want her, but she agreed anyways._

 _She prayed that she wouldn't trip, and luckily she didn't. "Uh, hi. I'm not the valedictorian like you were all expecting. I'm just Amelia.." Amelia looked down at her notes, and realized that her hands were shaking. She was more nervous than she had thought. "I'm not super talented, super popular, super anything really. However, I'm super surprised that I'm standing up here right now, looking out at so many people that I love. If you had told me 2 years ago that I would be graduating high school, let alone going to college and then med school, I would have laughed in your face. But here I am, minutes away from throwing this little tasseled cap up in the air. This is probably the world's shortest speech, and I'm sure that whatever Jason had would have been better. But, the end of this speech officially means the end of high school. We are graduated!" She threw her cap up in the air, smiling brightly._

 _Then, the ceremony was over, and Amelia was hurrying off of the stage to greet her family. Harper even lept off of Addison's lap, and ran down the aisle, and into her mother's arms._

 _"Momma!" Harper was wearing an adorable pink dress and matching headband, picked out by Addison of course. That woman was going to turn a 2 year old into a fashion diva._

 _"Hey you!" Amelia yelled, embracing her daughter, as she accepted a very wet kiss on the lips. She picked the girl up, and went to see the rest of her family. After Amelia was hugged by Lizzie, Harper instantly leapt from her mother's arms into her aunt's._

 _The last person to hug Amelia was Derek, who looked so happy that he was about to cry. "I'm so proud of you, Amy."_

 _She kissed his cheek, and hugged him as fiercely as she could. "I love you, Der."_

 _"I love you too, my little high school graduate."_

 _After the graduation, the family had retreated back to Carolyn's house for Amelia's post graduation party. It was basically just a fancy way of saying it was a family gathering. All of Amelia's friends had graduated today as well, and were spending time with their own families. She had expected to just have a nice meal with her immediate family, so when 40+ smiling faces greeted her at the house, she was shocked._

 _Her aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, were all there. Everyone was._

 _Including him._

 _She hadn't seen him in over three years, ever since she had told him that she was pregnant, and he bailed. She wasn't expecting to ever see him again._

 _"Ethan." It wasn't a question, it was purely a statement. She was unsure of how to react. And Harper. She couldn't let Harper see him. She would ask who he was, and Amelia wouldn't know what to tell her. She couldn't lie to a two year old, could she? She lied to her about Santa Claus and the fact that if you didn't brush your teeth a monster would come and get you, so why couldn't she lie to her about this?_

 _Great parenting Amelia._

 _"Amelia. You look great." Ethan smiled that dopey, half smile, just like she had remembered. That smile was what had drawn her to him in the first place. Harper had the same smile._

 _"Wh- What are you doing here?"_

 _"I heard you graduated. Your mother invited me."_

 _"My mother invited you? Great." Amelia couldn't believe that her mother would pull a stunt like this, especially after all the shit he'd put her and their whole family through._

 _"She also informed me that I have a healthy and happy two year old daughter that doesn't have a father, Amelia. How could you keep her from me all of this time?"_

 _She hadn't been expecting that. It was like a slap in the face. "Oh, I kept her from you? Really, that's what you're going with? You knew I was pregnant. Hell, you were the first person that I told. You ran away, remember? I raised Harper with no help from you, and that definitely wasn't my choosing. I wanted her to have a mom and a dad. But you know what? She doesn't, she has a mom and a grandma, aunts and uncles and cousins. They would all do anything for her, they all stayed. But where were you, Ethan?"_

 _The whole party had now gone silent, and everyone was looking at Amelia and Ethan, who were standing in the middle of the yard in an obviously heated arguement. Addison noticed this, and quickly tried to usher all of the other guests inside. She was a WASP; she knew how to put on a fake smile and pretend that nothing bad was happening._

 _"You know what? I'm done. Get off my yard." Amelia took one last look at the man before turning around and going back inside the house, where she was instantly greeted by Lizzie, who currently had Harper in her arms. She would deal with yelling at her mother later, but right now she needed to have a little joy._

 _"Who was that man, mommy?" Harper innocently asked. Just like Addison had done, Amelia put on a fake smile, and placed her daughter on her left hip._

 _"Nobody babe. Now, I'm hungry. Who wants cake?"_

* * *

 _Harper Shepherd sat on her bed, flipping lazily through the pages of some gossip magazine while running one hand through her dark hair. It was a pleasant rhythm of flipping a page and twisting a curl, and wasn't interrupted until Amelia walked into the fifteen year old's room, knowing that the bomb she was about to drop on her would be devastating._

 _"Oh, hey mom. I was just about to ask, did you forget to make dinner, or is it my night? Because I'm starting to get hungry."_

 _"No Harper, it's my night. I actually need to talk to you about something for a minute."_

 _The teenager didn't look up, but nodded her head, barely recognizing that Amelia was talking._

 _"Harper, I'm serious. I really need to talk to you about something. Could you put that magazine down for a second please?"_

 _Harper groaned, but eventually put down the trashy gossip, and looked up at her mother. "You have your serious face on. You only get that look when you tell me that you're dating a new guy, or someone has died. Which is it?"_

 _"Ha ha, very funny." Amelia kept her serious tone, but inside she was laughing. She had taught her daughter the skill of sarcasm quite well. "Do you remember how I was talking about looking for a new job?" The teen nodded and raised an eyebrow. "Well, I found one. Aunt Addison works at this practice in Los Angeles, and I did an interview the other night via webcam, and they offered me the position. It makes a lot more money than my current job, and-"_

 _"Wait, LA? That's on the other side of the country. I'm not going."_

 _Amelia took a seat on Harper's bed, making the mattress dip as she watched her obviously pissed off daughter stand up and start pacing._

 _"Honey, I'm sorry, but you don't really have a choice. Plus you'll get to be closer to Addison. We're staying with her actually, so you can see her whenever you'd like."_

 _"No."_

 _"Yes."_

 _"No!"_

 _"Yes!"_

 _"Okay."_

 _"Really?"_

 _"No!"_

 _Eventually the yes won out, because a week later, the two were sitting in the car, one concentrated on driving, and the other with earbuds in, drowning out the world with the angsty sounds of My Chemical Romance. Ever since she had found out that she was going to have to leave all of her friends behind and move across the country, Harper had started dressing in all black and listening to alternative music. Usually the song was about the singer's "tortured life," which Harper thought that she could relate to. As far as she was concerned, moving to Los Angeles was the worst possible thing that could happen to a person._

 _A few times, Amelia had tried to start a conversation with her mini me, but all she got was a few mumbles, so she gave up._

 _They got to Los Angeles two days after their trip had started, occasionally stopping to sleep or go the the bathroom. Amelia had insisted on driving, even though she knew that it would take a few days, a lot longer than a plane ride. She thought that maybe during the car ride, she could get through to Harper. However, right now it was proving to be impossible, so she was really regretting her decision._

 _Addison had said she was working today, so it would be a good idea if they went to the practice instead of waiting outside of her house for hours. Granted, it was right off of the beach so it would have been fine, but Addison insisted. Amelia pulled her car into the parking lot, and got out once she had turned the engine off. Harper was still listening to music, and was probably going to be a pain to have to get out of the car. Amelia went around to the passenger's side, and opened the door, before yanking an earbud out of the unsuspecting girl's ear. "Hey, Gerard Way, we're here. Time to get out of the car and put on a happy face."_

 _Even though she really didn't want to, Harper did as she was told, but avoided looking at Amelia. She walked fast through the practice doors, her sighing mother trailing behind her._

 _"Harper Shepherd, is that you?" A beaming Addison Montgomery stood by the reception desk, in awe as her niece (technically not anymore, but she would always be family in her mind) walked in with Amelia in tow. "Hi Addie." Harper graciously accepted the hug from her beloved aunt. She had always been close with Addison, but ever since Addison had moved to Seattle and then Los Angeles, they had grown further and further apart. It had been three years since they'd laid eyes on each other in person, and not just over a Skype call._

 _"I see you still wear those those ridiculously tall heels," Harper commented on Addison's shoes, that were currently making her over six feet tall. She was already a tall woman, but the few extra inches made her tower over everyone, even men. So for someone like Harper who was only a few inches above five feet, she seemed like a giant._

 _Addison laughed and put an arm around the teen. "And I see you still have Amelia's mouth."_

 _"Talking about me?" Amelia raised an eyebrow. "I've been here ten seconds and already you've managed to insult me and my child. Well done Addison." The redhead chuckled lightly, and embraced Amelia as well. "It's been too long, Amy."_

 _"Amelia. Derek is the only one allowed to call me Amy anymore."_

 _"Well then, it's been too long Amelia. Come on! I want you guys to come meet everyone! They're going to love you." Addison linked arms with Harper and Amelia, one of them on either side of her. She led them to the elevator, and up a few floors. This seemed to be a pretty good sized practice, so the saying appeared to be true. Everything really was bigger and better in LA._

 _There was apparently a kitchen here too. Harper was more used to hospitals, as her mother had always worked in large complexes, but she had been to a few medical practices in her lifetime. None of them were this nice._

 _"Everyone, I want you to meet some people," Harper was now standing in the middle of the trio, looking at all of the people that her mother would be working with. "This is Amelia Shepherd, the new neurologist that is going to be working here. She also happens to be one of my closest friends. And this is her daughter, Harper." Addison pointed to the two, each taking a turn smiling and greeting everyone once they were introduced._

 _"I'm Violet Turner, therapist." A kind looking curly haired woman spoke first, smiling at the unfamiliar pair. "Cooper Freedman, pediatrics."_

 _"Charlotte King, urologist and sexologist."_

 _"Sexologist? That's a thing?" That earned a glare from Amelia, to which Harper quickly shut up._

 _"Sorry, that was rude."_

 _Charlotte laughed. "No, it's perfectly okay. And yes, it's very much a thing."_

 _Next Pete, Dell and Sheldon introduced themselves, and soon it was Sam and Naomi's turn, but they already knew this girl. Maya was about a year older than Harper, and the two had played together a lot when they were younger. "Harper Shepherd. Wow, what are you now, 25?" Naomi reached out for a hug, and she accepted. Aunt Nai had always been one of her favorite people, and she was definitely more aunt-like than Nancy. "15, but you were close."_

 _From the corner, Charlotte snorted. "I like this girl."_

* * *

 _"Hey everybody. Coffee, I need some coffee." Amelia poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot that was sitting on the countertop, still warm. She turned around to see everyone silently staring at her, so she set the mug on the counter, and put her hands up mockingly. "Okay, sorry I took all of the coffee, but I promise to make a fresh pot." Suddenly she was enveloped in a very unexpected hug from Sheldon, who had seemed to appear out of thin air. "Wow. Okay, hi."_

 _Once he pulled away, Amelia smiled. "Did Ryan come by and tell you guys already? I'm engaged. Hello!"_

 _Addison couldn't take it anymore, so she stepped forward and slapped the woman square in the face. "Woah, what the hell was that?"_

 _"We called the police. We haven't seen you in twelve days. Nobody has. You left your teenage daughter alone. All you left behind was a five word note. 'Be back soon, Love Mom.' Luckily, Harper called Addison when she got home from school and you weren't there. We thought you were dead, Amelia."_

 _"Twelve days?" Amelia was shocked. She was sure that it hadn't been that long. Two days at the most._

 _Addison cleared her throat. "Are you currently high, Amelia?"_

 _The brunette would have pretended that she was offended by the question, but she couldn't blame Addison for asking. "No. But I was. Ryan, h-he helped me. I spent eleven of those twelve days going to AA meetings, and getting sober. Three meetings a day."_

 _"You're okay?"_

 _"I'm okay."_

 _The next day when Amelia arrived at work, it was eerily quiet. So quiet that she knew something was up. "Hello?" She called out when the elevator doors opened. There were no patients or doctors walking around. Maybe the practice was closed today, and they had just forgotten to tell her._

 _Finally she saw a head of red hair that she recognized. "Hey, Addison. Where is everybody?"_

 _"Can we talk to you for a minute?" Addison asked, ignoring the brunette's question. They walked into the waiting room where most of the chairs had been cleared out, and only a few were set up now. There was a woman with grey hair sitting at the head of the group._

 _"Hello." Amelia said, confused as to what everyone was doing here._

 _"Hi, Amelia. I'm Lenny."_

 _Amelia looked at the group of doctors in front of her, and pointed to Lenny. "Does she have a brain tumor, a giant carcinoma that she wants me to excise? That had better be what is going on here."_

 _"Amelia, everybody here cares about you, and they'd like you to stay and listen to what they have to say. Will you do that?" The gray haired woman spoke carefully._

 _"An intervention? An intervention?" Amelia laughed. "Okay. You know what? I have patients to see."_

 _"There are no patients coming today. Today is about you." Sam spoke up._

 _"Are you freaking kidding me?"_

 _"Amelia-" Lenny started, but was quickly interrupted by the angry woman who looked like she was about to burst at the seams at any minute._

 _"Doctor. Doctor Shepherd, and I know how an intervention works. You're not the one who talks. You are just the party planner. One of you one of you is supposed to have the guts to speak up instead of hiding behind this chick. One of you has to have the balls to say something to me. Do you? Any of you?" When none of them replied, she took that as a no, and a way out. "Okay. Great intervention. I have been intervened upon. I will see you tomorrow." She clicked the down button on the elevator panel, and got on once the doors opened. Addison stood in between them, forcing them to stay open._

 _"If you don't get off the elevator, I will fire you."_

 _"Then I quit."_

 _Now Charlotte was standing up, and took a place next to Addison in blocking the doors. "Amelia, get off the elevator, or I'll call the police on you."_

 _"And tell them what?"_

 _"And tell them you've been writing prescriptions for your own personal drug use."_

 _"You don't know what you're talking about."_

 _"Yeah, actually, I do."_

 _Amelia sighed, and got out of the elevator. Her heels clacked on the floor as she walked away from the group. "Okay. Fine. I will stay at the practice."_

 _"Amelia-" Charlotte began._

 _"I said I would stay at the practice. I did not say I would hang out with you."_

 _Once Amelia was out of earshot, Lenny turned to face the whole group. "She's going to go into withdrawal soon."_

 _"What?" It was Sam that asked the simple question that everyone had been wondering for all of today._

 _"She's using. At a certain point, she's going to go into withdrawal. That's our chance. We just have to keep her here till that happens."_

 _"Yeah, but she's not high right now."_

 _"Yes, she is."_

 _"No, she's not." Sam and Sheldon said in unison._

 _"She is. She'll be coming through those doors any minute. Her high will be on its way out, and we stand between her and getting out of here to get more drugs. She'll be a little bit sweaty, irritable, twitchy, tweaking. My guess is, she's an oxy girl? Nothing like oxycodone to turn a nice girl into bitch on wheels. Any minute She's coming through those doors." There was a full minute of silence and exchanges of awkward glances before the clacking sound of Amelia's heels was heard. She took a seat on the empty couch, and looked at the ground._

 _"Whatever you have to say, spit it out so I can go. I don't have all day. Who's talking first?"_

 _Slowly, Violet half raised her hand, and moved to sit next to Amelia on the couch. "Perfect. Shrink talk. My favorite."_

 _Violet ignored Amelia's comment, and started to speak. "So, um, we're not we're not close, so I don't have anything personal to say. I was just gonna ask you if you're feeling okay. You're sweating and your foot is shaking."_

 _"And you're aging and your husband hates you. So, you know, things could be worse for me." Amelia laughed at her own snide sense of humor that was only being amplified by the drugs._

 _"Amelia!"_

 _"It's okay, Pete. It's okay. She's scared. She's lashing out. I've had patients that are angrier than you and sicker than you, so I can take it."_

 _The brunette nodded. "Awesome. Are you looking for applause, as usual?"_

 _"Amelia!" Pete yelled again from his spot between Charlotte and the empty spot that was Violet's chair._

 _"It's okay, Pete."_

 _"No, I-it's not okay."_

 _"Honestly, Pete, all I have been able to think since I saved your pathetic life is, was it worth it? Cause you're kind of a tool. I mean, maybe saving you was a waste of my energy. Maybe it was a waste of my mad, mad surgical skills. Maybe you're a waste of life. Maybe angel-of-death dude should call it a day and swallow some pills yourself. What do you say, cross on over to the other side? It'd give your wife some great material for her next book, and she'd love that. That's her thing raping her personal experiences for attention. Oops. Did I say rape? Sorry, Charlotte."_

 _Everyone sat there in silence unsure of what to say. Even Lenny was in shock. It was Amelia who broke the silence._

 _"Is this all there is, your big intervention just screwed up people telling me how screwed up I am? Because last I checked, I'm a world-class neurosurgeon with a near-perfect surgical record. So if you want to intervene, fine. I can go all day."_

 _"Can you? Go all day?" Lenny asked, keeping the even tone to her voice. She knew that Amelia was going to break soon, soon her high would be over, so she would want to leave to go find more drugs. They had to get through to her soon, or she would probably go crazy and kill someone. People under the influence of drugs could do things they had no idea they were doing._

 _"Are we talking in riddles now? Are you the riddler? Are you riddling me stuff right now? Because I might need a pen to write this down."_

 _"I gotta admit, I'm kind of loving you right now. I am loving you." Lenny laughed. "You are winning better than Charlie Sheen. As long as I overlook the fact that you're a giant oxy addict who's killing herself. Everyone here is in agreement. You will no longer be enabled."_

 _"Enabled? Is that one of your special S.A.T. words?"_

 _It was now Addison's turn to speak, so Violet moved off of the couch and let Amelia's sister sit there instead._

 _"I'll change the locks. Until you get help, I'll change the locks. You can't live at my house anymore, and you won't see Harper. I will throw you out. Then I will call in your mother and your brother and your sisters, and then I will call the medical board and report you, because I love you, Amelia, but I will not love you to death."_

 _At that moment, the elevator doors dinged, and Harper herself walked out, looking around at everyone in the room. She recognized them all, except for two. Lenny and her mother. She had never seen Amelia like this. She had gotten sober before she found herself pregnant with Harper, and the young girl had never had to deal with her mother's drug problems before._

 _"Harper Grace Shepherd, I thought I told you to stay home," Addison scolded the teenager who pulled up a chair next to the couch Amelia and Addison were sitting on. "Yeah, well I didn't listen." Harper looked her mother in the eyes. They used to have the same eyes. 'The perfect shade of blue' as they had often been described by various people they knew. Except now Amelia's were lifeless and unrecognizable. When she saw Harper, she opened her mouth to speak, but her daughter beat her to it._

 _"No, you're going to listen to me. If you keep up at this, you're going to kill someone. You're going to walk into some OR, you're going to get behind the wheel of a car, and you're going to kill someone, mom. That's where this goes. And when you do- when you do that, you're not going to be able to come back from it. Maybe you get sober, but you don't come back. I know you, mom. You'll spend every day trying to be a better person, trying to save a life, trying to make it right. But you can't give that mother back her child or that husband back his wife. You walk and you talk and you breathe, and sometimes you'll even smile or laugh, but you don't come back."_

 _"Okay, I gotta ask. What is the point of this now? She's so high, she can't even listen to us." Pete was clearly still outraged at what Amelia had said to Violet._

 _"I'm listening." The words was spoken quietly, but still loud enough to be audible. "What Harper said was very beautiful and real. And I worry about that. I do."_

 _Harper took Amelia's hand in hers. "Just give us 30 days clean and sober then you can start over again. A clean slate."_

 _Now Amelia was on the verge of tears. "That sounds nice, but I don't think I can do it."_

 _"Oh, you can. I know you can. We'll help you. I'll help you. Mom, please. There's a great rehab facility. They have a bed waiting for you. It's right near the ocean."_

 _"Will you come, too?"_

 _"I'll come see you every day. I promise."_

* * *

 **A/N: (dt all of my readers!) I could honestly make a whole separate story dealing with the concept of Amelia keeping Harper. I stole a lot of dialogue from 5x09 of Private Practice, but I really felt that I needed to incorporate part of that storyline in. I hope you guys enjoyed, and like always, FOLLOW, FAVORITE, AND REVIEW!**


	5. The Adventures of Ladybug and Bumblebee

_"I think that you should totally get that dress. You look hot. You're definitely going to get laid tonight." Camille ogled at the sight of her currently smoking hot best friend. The two were doing some last minute dress shopping for Harper's Sweet 16, and had been to almost all of the stores in the mall. Part of her knew that the dress looked great on the brunette, but the other part of her was screaming, 'Just tell her that she looks great so we can get out of here!'_

 _The dress was a little classy, and a little slutty, the perfect amount of both. It was made of white silk, and had lace etching on the top. It dipped slightly, and was on the shorter side, reaching about three inches above the knee._

 _"You really think so?" Harper wanted to impress somebody. All of her friends had already started drinking and having sex, and then there was Harper, who felt like she was becoming an outcast. That stuff, that boy stuff, had never really mattered to her until now. Now it was everything._

 _Camille laughed. "Yes, Harper, it looks great. It hugs you in all the right places," The blonde was starting to become impatient, but she knew that had the roles been reversed, Harper would stick it out for her._

 _"Opposite but equal," As their middle school science teacher had once said. "Apples and oranges, right?"_

 _There were a few muffled no's, and a cough, so she tried again._

 _"Take Harper and Camille for example. Complete opposites. Yet they're best friends. Why?"_

 _The boy that sat in the back and almost never said anything, Eddie, raised his hand. The teacher eagerly called on him._

 _"Because they balance each other out. Two forces of nature, each toned down by the other person. Opposite but equal. Apples and oranges."_

 _Camille snapped back to reality, where she was greeting by Harper poking and prodding her. "Hey, Cam, are you okay? I thought you were having a seizure or something."_

 _She shook her head and laughed. "No, I'm fine, I was just thinking. Don't worry, I don't have a brain condition. Not today, anyways."_

 _Blue eyes squinted at her, trying to read whether or not she was lying. Harper was an open book. You could always tell exactly what she was thinking, or what her mood was by the look on her face. However, Camille was different. With her, you couldn't even always tell if she was awake or not._

 _"Okay," Harper started towards the register at the front of the store. "Well, I'm going to get this dress. I'm trusting you when you say I look good in this."_

 _"You look amazing in it, H. Scout's honor!"_

 _"Oh, please. Like you would ever be a girl scout. I can see it now. Camille Scott, troop leader. Surrounded by boxes of cookies that you somehow have managed to not eat-"_

 _"Shut up and go buy your dress." The two laughed, and Harper went to buy the dress while Camille lazily thumbed through a rack of clothes. She flipped over a price tag, to reveal that this was a $150 shirt. "Yikes," She said, slowly backing away from it._

 _Her gaze drifted to the store entrance, and the man that was standing on the other side of the mall walkway. He was staring directly at her._

* * *

Harper stood in front of the patient, and took a deep breath. She didn't want to mess this up. Her patient was a nine year old boy named Nolan.

She observed his face. Freckles, and brown hair, so close to being red. She couldn't see it now, but earlier she had. She had spoken with his parents, Ron and Sheila. They had two other children. He had a family. He liked video games and soccer. She couldn't kill that sweet face.

 _Harper, relax, it's just a simple appendectomy. You know how to do this._

"Scalpel." Harper spoke gently, but with authority, just like Ruby had told her to do. The hispanic girl had given her a pep talk before she walked into the OR just to make sure that she didn't freak out and drop like a fly. She probably would anyways, but it was nice of Ruby to _try_ and prevent it.

"Scalpel." The scrub nurse gave handed her the scalpel, and Harper took one more deep breath before making the first incision.

"That girl down there, that's my best friend." Camille smiled and said to nobody in particular, but turned to look at the male intern she was sitting next to. He was attractive, with dirty blonde hair and only a whisper of facial hair.

He laughed, and returned her look. "It looks like your BFF is ready to piss herself, better go save her."

"Can't." Camille lifted up her left arm, which currently had an IV in it. A bag of fluids sat next to her.

"What'd you do, drink too much last night? You know, it's probably not a good idea to get totally hammered before your first day of work. I don't understand Americans." The boy added, making Camille even more interested as to who he was.

Camille smirked, "Ha, funny. I got some sort of bug. I think this is actually the first time that I've been to my first day of work sober," She started, thinking back to the time that she and Harper had gotten jobs at a fast food restaurant, and had both gotten fired on their first day. Camille had been completely hung over, and Harper had tried to cover for her. That was typically how it went in their friendship. "You think you're some big hotshot because you're an Aussie?"

"Wow, what a party girl. And I'm actually from New Zealand."

"Well then what brings you to Seattle?" Camille raised an eyebrow, and adjusted herself so that her legs were tucked underneath of her. She still sat 'criss-cross applesauce', just like she had been taught in first grade.

The boy cleared his throat. "A few years ago, my brother's girlfriend left him with their three month old baby. I was already in med school in New Zealand, but my brother lived here. Luckily I was able to get a transfer to Seattle so I could help him with my niece."

"And here I was thinking that you sounded like an asshole. I'm Camille." She reached out her hand, and he shook it.

"Zach. Zach Lloyd."

"Clamp."

"Clamp." The scrub nurse repeated, and handed Harper the clamp, and then the scalpel. Finally, the appendix was out. This was a lot easier than she had thought it would be. She sighed with relief that she hadn't killed the patient, and started to relax a little bit. Maybe too much, because the next thing she knew, Nolan's blood pressure was dropping, and his oxygen SATS were low. Too low.

"Oh God, what did I do?" Meredith turned to her, their eyes meeting. "Dr. Young, what are you going to do now?" Harper scrambled to find the words, but there were none. Deep down she knew what she should do, but she was too in shock to actually do it. She backed away from the operating table as Meredith stepped in to take over. Harper pulled her mask and gloves off, threw them away, and ran out of the OR.

Camille sighed. "I got her." She picked up her bag of fluids, and stood up, but turned around before she got too far. "It was nice to meet you, Kiwi Boy."

"It was nice meeting you too, Vanilla Frappucino."

The blonde laughed and exited the gallery, Zach still on her mind. He had smelt like laundry detergent. Like clothes drying on a clothes line on a breezy summer day, so the smell drifted towards anyone. Camille wasn't the type to be cheesy, but he somehow had brought the cheddar out of her.

Once Camille went down some stairs, she arrived at the hallway outside of the OR. There was Harper, sitting against the wall, her knees pinned to her chest. She had taken her scrub cap off and the ponytail in her hair out, so most of her dark curls sprawled down her back, and some stuck to her face, thanks to all the tears and sweat that were being mixed together on her skin.

The scrub cap sat on the floor like a crumpled up piece of paper, and Camille thought back to the time that Harper's mother had given it to her. Rachel had given her one too, seeing as Camille was basically the third daughter that she never really asked for, but would never turn away.

* * *

 _It was the day before the two of them were planning on leaving for college. Harper's parents, Rachel and Isaac, had invited Camille to spend the day with their family, if she didn't have plans with hers, of course._

 _But, she didn't. It wasn't that her mom hadn't wanted to spend the day with her daughter, it was just that she was so incredibly busy, and working hard enough as it was._

 _"The dinner looks amazing, Rachel." Three years ago, she probably would have stuck to "Mrs. Young," but she and Harper had gotten so close that it didn't really matter now. She could have called her mom, and the blonde lawyer would have just smiled and hugged her._

 _"Thank you, Camille. You're the only one that's said anything about it that wasn't slightly discouraging." Rachel glared towards Isaac who was in the kitchen making salad. Their dining room and kitchen were basically one room, as their house was very open. It let in a lot of sunlight. Harper was really going to miss that._

 _Isaac put his hands up defensively, accidentally flinging a tomato on to the floor. Their newly adopted lab puppy, Ace, shuffled over and quickly devoured it. "Hey. all I said was that you make this a lot. Maybe too much if you ask me."_

 _"Well, I guess it's a good thing I didn't ask you, then. Besides, this is Camille and Harper's favorite. It's all about my girls tonight, not about that prick over there." She grabbed both of them and pulled them to her sides, hugging them as tightly as she could._

 _"Mom, you're squishing us," Harper pleaded, as she could feel her face being squashed in. Pretty soon, the smell of Chanel No 5 was going to be_ _permanently laced into her skin._

 _Rachel let them go, and quickly ran upstairs. "I'll be right back!" She yelled as she was already halfway up the carpeted steps. About a minute later, she came downstairs with two bags, one purple and one blue. They were small, so at least Harper knew that it wasn't going to be a repeat of her fifteenth birthday when they had gotten her a car. She couldn't even drive yet, but of course, a charcoal BMW had been thrown her way._

 _"You didn't. I specifically said, no presents!"_

 _"You're right, you did, but I didn't have to listen, because I'm the parent in this equation." The blue bag was handed to Camille, and the purple one to Harper. "Open them up!"_

 _Even though Harper was rolling her eyes as far back as she could possibly manage, she complied anyways. She pulled out a blue scrub cap, with a single bumblebee on the back of it. Camille had a ladybug._

 _Those had been their childhood nicknames. They were the dynamic duo of Ladybug and Bumblebee, and nobody could stop them._

* * *

Camille made a move forward to go comfort her friend, but stopped once she saw that someone else had already beat her to it. She had seen the lady once, and thought that her name was Dr. Shepherd or something like that.

Amelia sat down on the ground right next to Harper, and met the girl's eyes. "Hey, you did really good in there."

"Yeah, until I killed a kid." Harper could feel the tears starting to pool in her eyes again. Usually, she wouldn't have spoken to her superior like that, but right now, she didn't really care. Her job was most likely already non-existent. "I messed up, I really don't know why you're being so nice to me. Attendings are supposed to be mean or something."

The older brunette mocked being offended before offering a warm smile. "Okay, one, you did not kill that kid. He's fine. That surgery was designed for you to fail, it sets you as the example. You never actually did anything wrong."

She sniffed, and met eyes with Amelia. "I didn't?"

"No, you didn't. He had a very fragile abdominal wall. It wasn't your fault. Second, just because Dr. Karev may be an ass, doesn't mean we all are."

Harper laughed, and Amelia joined her, the identical sounds ringing through the fairly empty corridor. Camille watched them from behind a wall, and was starting to get freaked out. It was one thing to be friendly to someone, but Dr. Shepherd was being too nice. Thanks to her oldest sister being a detective, Camille was good at noticing things about people that most would just skip over. Their body language, tone of voice, they were all signs that could point to something. Right now, Amelia's actions were screaming maternal. That's when the pieces finally fit together.

Amelia wasn't just acting maternal towards Harper. _She was her mother._

It made sense. They were both doctors. Brown haired, blue eyed. Short, and seemingly unafraid of anything. Well Harper _had_ been unafraid of anything until this moment.

Apparently the blonde couldn't keep her gasp to herself while having this realization, and unfortunately she was spotted by both of the women.

"Cam, is that you?"

Camille shyly stepped out from behind the wall, and went to sit on the other side of her best friend. She tried to keep her mouth from falling open, as she was still in shock.

"Hey Pipsqueak." It was a nickname reserved only for her small companion.

"I'm having a pretty sucky day, how about you?" Harper laughed in between tears.

Camille tried to cheer her friend up by bumping her shoulder gently, and smiling. "Hey, on the bright side, the hospital is the one place where I could actually beat you at something."

Harper slapped Camille's shoulder lightly, and turned back towards a very confused looking Amelia. She started to explain:

"Ever since I can remember, Cam and I have been best friends. We were inseparable, but complete opposites. I was a suck up to every teacher I'd ever had, I-"

"-She's putting it nicely." Camille interrupted. "In reality, she was a goody two shoes with rich parents, and I was the party girl who was always being bailed out of jail. The only bad decision you ever made was thinking that you could pay for an apartment by yourself with an intern's salary."

"You bought your own apartment?" Amelia questioned. She felt pride that her daughter was so grown up. She was 22 after all, but it was still a shock of realization to Amelia that the baby that'd she'd given up almost 23 years ago was no longer a baby. She was a grown woman.

Harper nodded. "My parents offered to help me pay for it, but I told them I wanted to do it myself. I've sort of been handed everything my whole life, and I actually would like to work for something for a change. We live together," She pointed to herself and then Camille. "But Cam had to help out with her mom back home. I started paying the rent by myself, and the bills stacked up faster than the cash appeared in my wallet. I just got a notice that we have two days to get everything out of the loft."

Amelia was surprised. Work ethic was good in a person, and Harper clearly had it. She would make a great surgeon, even if she didn't think so at the moment. Impulsive Amelia was back, yet again, and she was itching to get out.

"Well, you guys are welcome to come stay with my husband and I for a few days. At least, until you can find another apartment to stay at."

 _God dammit, Amelia. She really needed to stop just blurting things out. It was starting to become a problem._

"Are you serious?" Harper and Camille both spoke at the same time, glancing at each other in utter shock. Their superior was offering them a place to stay. Her house.

"Yeah, of course." She gulped down the knot in her throat, and smiled.

"Are you sure that your husband is going to be okay with that?" Camille asked. She wondered if Amelia was still with Harper's birth dad. It was a long shot, but maybe. After all, she didn't even have confirmation that Amelia was her best friend's mom. She was pretty sure she was, though.

 _Oh shit, Owen. She had forgotten about him. How would he feel about having her invite two random interns to stay in their house?_

"Absolutely."

* * *

Sixty four hours later, their first shift was finally over, and they could now go home. Well, in Harper and Camille's case, home was now Amelia and Owen's house. The brunette had told her husband the night that she had made the proposition. He wasn't exactly thrilled about two interns coming to stay with them, but he had gotten used to the idea eventually, and had told Amelia that someday, her big heart was going to get her into trouble.

Amelia agreed to go over to their apartment with them, and get their stuff. Owen had to work the night shift tonight, so it would just be the three girls. Amelia thought it might be a good time to simply get to know the type of person that Harper was (even though she already had a pretty good idea), but Camille had other plans. She wanted to confront the woman and see if her instincts were correct.

Camille had driven immediately to Amelia's house, and agreed to make dinner if they got all the things from the apartment. Harper laughed when this idea was proposed, knowing that her friend wasn't a very good cook, but Amelia had said that was fine, and gave her the key. Harper would catch a ride with her.

Keys jangled as it was inserted into the lock. Harper opened the door, and flipped on the switch, revealing their three room little abode. There wasn't much, but there was enough to be able to call it home.

"You can just grab whatever, I don't really care what we leave honestly." She started towards the bedroom to get some things, but stopped before reaching the doorway. "Oh! Except for the pictures, and the colorful apron. Those are necessities."

She semi-skipped off into the small bedroom, while Amelia wandered around the living room/kitchen/dining room. A lot of pictures were strung on random spots on the wall, so she just started grabbing, making sure that every image was burned into her brain. One of Harper and Camille graduating. Harper with a blonde boy and girl, presumably her brother and sister.

One hour and ten boxes later, they were all packed up in the car and ready to go home. "Goodbye, shitty little apartment that I never really liked anyways." Harper blew a kiss towards the brick building, and climbed into the passenger seat of the car. Amelia laughed, and got in the drivers seat.

Soon enough, they were at home, even though the drive had felt like nothing. The two women had spent the whole time talking and laughing, exchanging stories of lots of mistakes, most of which involved alcohol.

Upon entering the house, Harper noted that it smelt like spaghetti, which was odd, because Camille couldn't even make toast.

"You can just set your stuff there, we'll get it after dinner." Amelia pointed to a random spot on the floor, so Harper dropped the backpack that she was holding, and somehow found her way to the kitchen.

"Wow, you have a really nice house, Dr. Shepherd."

"If you're going to be living here, there's one thing I'm going to need you to do."

Harper and Camille both looked up, scared at what the requirement was going to be.

"When we're here, you're going to have to call me Amelia."

Pasta was scooped into bowls, and the three women went into the living room, and turned on some cheesy romance movie. They all started cringing at the terrible acting and forced kissing, so halfway through something called _"Brazilian Fire"_ , they switched to _"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."_

Soon enough, Camille and Harper had both said their goodnights, and skipped off to bed, leaving Amelia alone to think. This thinking was interrupted by her dog barking like mad.

"Lulu, what's wrong?" Amelia made a move towards the window that her dog was jumping up and down in front of, only to see a red car parking in their driveway. It was that damn red convertible, the one she would have recognized anywhere. After Henry, she would have thought that she would have gotten something a little more safe for kids. And she did. But every once and awhile, she would bring that car out for a joyride.

It appeared that Addison Montgomery was coming to visit.

* * *

 **a/n: I DESERVE DEATH ,, WHY IS IT SO HARD FOR ME TO UPDATE REGULARLY?¿ i love this story and want to get back into it but i make no promises. ps- i just wanna let you know that these flashbacks actually have a purpose to them and will reveal something eventually. also can we talk about thirteen reasons why?!1.! iconic as hell. i'm considering writing a fic for it, because i really enjoyed that show and it made me feel so many things. hope you enjoyed, and please follow, favorite, and review!:) i would really love to hear more of your thoughts and opinions**


End file.
